Major Russian social media apps removed from Google Play Store

The Russian super-app and major messaging platform MAX, along with a number of applications developed by VKontakte (VK), have been removed from the Google Play Store. Social media company VK stated on Thursday (16/7) local time that it is asking its users to switch to a new domain ending in ‘.ru’. ‘All features, applications, and the design of VKontakte remain the same. However, for technical reasons, vk.ru is always accessible and loads and runs faster than vk.com,’ the company said. In June, several VK apps, including MAX, were also removed from Apple’s App Store, sparking sharp criticism from the company and Russian authorities. Google Play has also removed several Russian-owned applications, citing sanctions, including the Kaspersky antivirus app and the official apps of a number of Russian banks.